Tchaikovsky's opera The Queen of Spades is a veritable feast of singers with dazzlingly beautiful arias and magnificent choruses. Inspired by the Russian national poet Alexander Pushkin's short story about strange mysteries in 18th-century Petersburg, Tchaikovsky has created incomparably beautiful music for the demonic and sometimes surreal plot.
The internationally praised and acclaimed mezzo-soprano and court singer Anne Sofie von Otter portrays the countess, the soprano Yana Kleyn (whom the Royal Swedish Opera audience has seen as Liù in Turandot, Mimì in La bohème and the title role in Soeur Angelica) sings the role of Lisa and the tenor Kristian Benedikt sings Herman. The Royal Swedish Opera's music director Alan Gilbert conducts.